Island



I. M. SMITH.

(No Model.)

DISPLAY OASE.

No. 455,770; Patented July 14, 1891.

s versus m. metro-1mm, vusmua'rou n c UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

IRVING M. SMITH, OF PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND.

DISPLAY-CASE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 455,770, dated July 14,1891.

Application fileddanuary 26, 1891. Serial No. 379,087. (No model.)

To all who/)2 it may concern/.-

Be it known that I, IRVING M. SMITH, of the city of Providence, in thecounty of Providence and State of Rhode Island, have invented a new anduseful Improvement in Display-Cases, of which the following is aspecification.

My invention relates to the construction and mode of arranging two openboxes made ing-card holder attached to and operated in connection withthe two open boxes, or with one box and its support when only one boxand its support is used, and which serves to limit the separation of thetwo open ends of the boxes or when attached to anytwo equivalentsupports.

The construction and use of my invention are illustrated by theaccompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a perspective view of thetwo boxes placed back upward and hinged together end to end. Fig. 2 is aperspective view of the two boxes partly folded back to back and hingedtogether atone end. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the display-casestanding upon its opened ends and partially filled with articles fordisplay as in ordinary use. Fig. 4 is a transverse section of one of theboxes, taken on line 41 o of Fig. 3. Fig. 5

is a perspective view of a separate side piece with flange detached fromthe box.

Fig.6is a perspective view of the advertisingcard holder made in twosimilar disconnected parts or halves attached to the ends of the boxesand drawn to an enlarged scale. Fig. 7 is a vertical sectional view ofthe advertising-card holder, taken on line 'l of Fig. (5. Fig. Sis aperspective View of the boxes, showing the mode of fastening theadvertisingcard holder to the boxes.

.box and clinch them on the inside.

able material of any con venient size and shape and connected togetherby a strip of muslin O or any other suitable flexible material, cementedor otherwise firmly attached to the bottoms of the two boxes or anyother hinge,

the boxes being placed closely end to end, and

said strip extending acrossthe adjacent ends from the bottom of one tothe bottom of the other, and thus holding the lower or bottom edges ofthe two adjacent ends of the boxes firmly together, but permitting thetwo boxes to fold closely together back to back and to open at the otherends, using the said flexible strip as a hinge. The two 'ends thusconnected are also, if desired, more firmly united by cementing a stripof muslin D or other suitable flexible material or other hinge acrossthe said two ends of the boxes when the same are placed back to back,which also serves as a hinge on which the two boxes may swing or moveapart at their lower ends.

E E is an ad vertising-card holderconstrueted and made up of two similarparts or halves, preferably of sheet-tin; but they may be made of anyother suitable materialas, for instance, wire, sheet-iron, &c.-and aremade by striking sharply up one edge F of a strip of sheet-tin of .thedesired size, say, two inches square at right angles to the plane ofthesheet, making a flange, say, one-quarter of an inch deep, and bending orfolding over the opposite edge G of the sheetin the form similar toone-half of an ellipse until-the edge G rests nearly over and in nearlythe same plane as F and at a distance above F, say, about onehalf aninch. E is then attached to the upper hinged end of box A, so that theflange Fwill stand nearly in the plane of the back of box A. E may bethus attached to boxA by any suitable in cans but, as a convenient way,I out two short slits in the opposite sides of the sheet at H H and bendthem downward at right angles to the sheet and pass them throughcorresponding slits in the end of the B is also similarly provided witha similar fixture E, so that when the two boxes A and B are foldedclosely back to backthe upper edges G G of E E will lie in parallellines with sufficient space between them to admit the insertion of anadvertising-card. The flanges F F will also lie in parallel planes justfar enough apart to permit any ordinary advertisingcard to be admittedbetween them. By spreading apart the lower ends of the boxes the upperedges G G will approach each other, and operating as a pair of jaws willgrasp firmly between them the advertising-card K, and as the lower endsof the boxes spread apart the upper edges of flanges F F also approacheach other, and likewise as a pair of jaws grasp the advertising-card Kand assist the upper jaws G G in holding the card firmly, and thepressure of these two pairs of jaws upon the card K and also thepressure of the flanges E E against one another, when no card is heldbetween them, preventsthe lower ends of the boxes from being spreadfarther apart than is desired-that is, thespreading apart of the lowerends of the boxes is limited by the resistance of G G to one another andalso by the resistance of F F to one another.

The opposite sides L L of boxes A and B are each provided with a narrowflange M, extending inward, say, one half an inch in width, shaped atright angles to the plane of the side by means well known to paper-boxmanufacturers and runninglengthwise nearly the whole length of the box,leaving, however, near the top just space enough to allow of theinsertion of the articles that it is desired to exhibit. This flangemaybe made in' one piece with the side of the box and shaped at thedesired angle, or preferably it may be made a part of a separate strip Nof cardboard, which is cemented or otherwise fixed to the sides of thebox upon the inside by any well-known means, thus giving strength to thebox. Fig. 5 shows a view in perspective of such separate side N detachedfrom the box, provided with a flange M, ready for insertion therein.flanges a part of a separate strip, because when so constructed the boxis stronger and the flange is stronger than when it forms a part of theside L of the box. The flange may be strengthened in its position byout- 1 side paper bands pasted upon and passing around the sides of thebox and embracing the lower corners thereof and covering the joint madeby the lower end of flange M and the end of the box. The display-case,composed of boxes A and B thus constructed, furnishes a very convenientand effective means of displaying for sale articles of merchandise. Thearticles to be exposed, as Y Y Y, being of sufficient length to reachacross the box, are placed in the box at the point where the flange Mterminates near the top, and are held in place by said flange and Iprefer to make the.

thus exposed to view, as shown in Fig. 0. The boxes aret-hen foldedclosely together back to back, the advertising-card inserted betweenjaws G G and flanges F F. The lower end of the boxes are spread apartuntil the jaws G G and flanges F F grasp the advertising-card. The boxesare then placed with their lower ends separated and resting on thecounter, show-case, or wherever it may be desired to place them forexhibition.

Boxes A and B serve as mutual support-s; but a single box A may be usedalone, substituting for boxB any equivalent support, provided with itscard-holder E, without departing from the principle of my invention.

The dimensions of the various parts above given are not intended asabsolute, but may be varied in size and proportions to suit the taste ofthe user and the purposes to which the case is to be devoted. g

The card-holder E E may be used without the use of flanges F F to assistin holding the card, the jaws G G alone effectually holding the cardbetween them, or the flanges F F may be used alone without the use of GG to assist in holding the card; but the object is best secured by usingboth sets of jaws.

What I claim as my invention isl. The advertising display-caseconsisting of boxes A and B, having the two hinges O and D, or either ofthem, each box beingprovided with side flanges M M and provided withcard-holder E E, having jaws G G and flanges F F, substantially asdescribed.

2. The advertising display-case consisting of boxes A and B, having thetwo hinges C and D, or either of them, each box being provided with sideflanges M. M and provided with card-holder E E, having jaws G G,substantially as described.

The advertising display-case consisting of boxes A and B, having the twohinges C and D, or either of them, each box being provided with sideflanges M M and provided with card-holder E E, having flanges F F,substantially as described.

4. The advertising display-case consisting no of boxes A and, B, havingthe two hinges C and D, or either of them,.each box being provided withside flanges M M, substantially as described.

5. The advertising display-case consisting of box A, having flanges M M,the two hinges C and D, or either of them, card-holder E E, and thesupport B, substantially as described.

6. An advertising-card holder E E when used with hinged supports A andB, substan- 12o tially as described.

IRVING M. SMITH.

'Witnesses: 7

Lewis M. SMITH, JOHN J. FLYNN.

